Skies of Redemption
by Walker1127
Summary: With the Neuroi growing stronger, and the witches becoming overwhelmed, the battle for Earth seems lost. A test subject stands with the witches against the relentless threat. Please R&R.
1. Prologue

_**DISCLAIMER: **__The anime/manga "Strike Witches" is owned by Humikane Shimada. _

Prologue: Key to Victory

After the destruction of the Neuroi hives in Gallia and Venezia, the Neuroi's actions have become more aggressive. Now, the Neuroi is a force that the witches cannot handle alone.

Orrusia, 1945

A squadron of La-5s is flying over the icy plains on a routine patrol mission. The roar of their engines echoed through the desolate landscape below. They flew in a diamond formation with unchallenged speed.

"Iron Wing, this is HQ, do you read?" the radio buzzed.

"We read you, HQ. What is it?" the squadron leader responded.

"We are picking up multiple dots 15 miles northwest of your position."

"Roger that, we'll check it out."

As they got to the location, they saw nothing but clouds. The four planes changed into a V-formation as they flew over the thick clouds.

From out of nowhere, a metallic shriek rang through the clear sky. The dreadful noise rang through the ears of the pilots, a noise that was too familiar to them.

"Neu—" a crimson beam came out from the thick clouds below and destroyed one of the planes.

Six gigantic Neuroi emerged from the clouds and started to open fire.

The three remaining planes scattered and attempted to retaliate with their machineguns.

"When did they learn to ambush!" one of the pilots barked into his radio.

The planes maneuvered around the massive Neuroi, dodging beams and returning fire with their conventional machineguns. Their bullets chipped the Neuroi's thick hull, but it wasn't enough to stop the massive ships.

The thick clouds started to clear up revealing a huge swirling black cloud slowly drifting across the sky.

"Oh my God…" the squadron leader grimaced as he saw the massive Neuroi Hive.

"We're outgunned here!" a pilot frantically yelled into his radio "We have to retreat!"

A Neuroi beam sliced the wing of his plane clean off and sent him spiraling towards the icy plain below.

"HQ, this is Iron Wing! The Neuroi Hive is moving! I repeat, the Neuroi Hive is moving! We are retreating back to base!" the squadron leader barked into his radio.

"Acknowledged, Iron Wing, head back to base."

The remaining planes of Iron Wing break off from the battle with the Neuroi and made a hasty retreat.

Twenty four hours after the incident in Orussia occurred; word of the Neuroi Hive moving has reached all the way to Central Command in Britannia.

An officer briskly walked across the busy halls of the base. He made his way up the stairs to a room flanked by two stone lions. He stopped in front of the massive oak doors of the room and knocked lightly.

"Air Marshall Galland, we have a report from Orussia!" he peered into the room.

Across the room, a young woman was buried in the towering stack of papers on her mahogany desk.

Her long brown hair fell down perfectly, exposing her nape. Her clear gray eyes glistened as she browsed through her work. She wore a brown aviator's jacket, black leather pants with the thighs cut out, and black leather boots.

"What is it?" she didn't look up from the papers in front of her.

"The Neuroi Hive over the Ural Mountains is moving! Approximately 24 hours ago, a patrol squadron was engaged by the Hive and its 6 escorts."

Galland stopped scanning through her papers. She looked up and looked at the officer as if it wasn't a surprise to her.

"Where is it headed?"

"Present coordinates suggest that it's looming over the Moscow ruins." the officer looked into his clipboard.

Galland stood up from behind her desk and faced the window behind her.

"Another anomaly huh? That's the fifth report this week." She sweep some of her hair away from her eyes "*sigh*…get my plane ready, I'm heading to Neue Karlsland."

"Yes ma'am!" the officer saluted and left on the double.

"_The Neuroi's really making us fight for our land huh…_" A/M Galland turned away from the window and walked out of her room.

Ten hours later…

The Neue Karlsland Ministrry of Technology, the scientific institute for the advancement of military technology.

In one of its many labs, a blonde girl with glasses, wearing a labcoat over her olive drab JG-52 uniform was tinkering with a glowing green orb.

"Flight Lieutenant Ursula Hartmann, please proceed to Briefing Room 3" the PA system announced.

"_Huh? I have a visitor?_" the girl looked up from her work, her glasses hanging from the tip of her nose.

Ursula placed down the orb and proceeded to the briefing room.

"I wonder who's summoning me on such short notice…" Ursula wondered.

She stopped in front of a simple wooden door with a brass number three bolted onto it.

"A-Air Marshall Galland! Why are you here!" Ursula sounded surprised, but her expression was cool and calm.

"I've come to receive an update on Project: Hecate." Galland stood up from one of the black leather chairs in the room.

"Oh, I just finished synthesizing the last core, please follow me."

Ursula and Galland left the briefing room and headed back to Ursula's lab.

"Sorry about the mess…" Ursula opened the door and let Galland go in first.

The lab was a simple room with cream colored walls and six windows overlooking the sea. An island in the middle of the room was littered with striker parts and blueprints. At the end of the room, three glowing green orbs were on top of metal pedestals.

"So far I've only synthesized three cores." Ursula picked up one of the cores from the pedestal and handed it to Galland.

"So I get it that the prototypes were successful?" Galland asked, examining the core.

"Oh yes, the prototype amplifier proved successful on Sergeant Miyafuji." Ursula sounded pleased.

"I see. How about the other test subject? Major Sakamoto was it?"

Ursula's smile faded away. She adjusted her glasses and looked down.

"…Her magic wouldn't return. She burned herself up too much during the Venezia campaign."

"I see. Well, it can't be helped…" Galland placed the core back on the pedestal.

"She was a good witch. It's just too bad that this couldn't help her. With what's going on, a witch like Major Sakamoto would've been very much needed."

"Yes, our numbers dwindle while the Neuroi's number remains endless…" Galland gazed at the cores, glowing with tremendous magic power "Flight Lt. Ursula, have you ever heard of 'Sorcerers'?"

"Sorcerers? A male who can use magic? There are theories about them, but no one has been able to prove that they're real."

Galland picked up one of the cores from the pedestal.

"It is possible for your amplifier to create a Sorcerer?" she asked.

Ursula's eyes widened, but her expression was still cool and composed. She pulled out a notepad from her lab coat and wrote something down.

"Theoretically speaking, a Sorcerer has a minute magical potential." She had her index finger on her cheek, in deep thought "It's possible that my invention could amplify their magic to some extent."

Galland smiled. She placed the core back onto the pedestal and walked towards the door.

"That's good to hear. Pack your things, we're leaving."

"Hmmm? Leaving? Where are we going, Air Marshall?"

"We're going to get some new recruits." Galland glanced at Ursula and continued out the door.


	2. Hope

Chapter 1: Hope

The burning buildings illuminated the dark and smoky night. Debris and ash littered the frosted streets. Wrecked vehicles piled up on the roads. Another village has fallen under the Neuroi's attack.

Along the road leading out of the village, a young boy is desperately trying to crawl his way out, leaving a small trail of blood behind him.

He was covered in ash, and his clothes were tattered and smoldering. His blonde hair was a mess, with bits of stone and glass in it. His lively green eyes were reddened from crying. There was a cut across his nose, dried blood left marks running down his face. His legs were riddled with deeps cuts that profusely bled.

"Irina!" he called out in a raspy voice "Irina!"

"Big brother…" a girl's voice whispered is the boy's ear.

The boy frantically looked around him to see where it came from.

The girl standing in front of him came out of nowhere. Her dress was smoldering and slowly falling to pieces. Her curly golden blonde hair covered her eyes.

"Big brother…" the girl whispered.

"Irina!" the boy's eyes widened. He frantically crawled towards the girl, but he wasn't moving from his spot.

The snow was like quicksand now, sucking him down and restricting his movements.

"Irina!" the boy yelled.

"You left me…" Irina held her hands over her chest "You left me to die…"

"T-that's not true! I tried to come back for you!"

"Liar…" tears started to run down the little girl's cheeks.

Smoke started to rise from the girl's head. Her clothes began to slowly burn away.

"NO! Irina!" the boy extended his hand towards his little sister.

The girl was now completely engulfed in flames.

"NO! NO! IRINA!" the boy struggled to free his hand from the snow.

The boy sunk into the snow, he could feel the crushing pressure around him. The snow suffocating him.

"Azariah!" a voice called out in the darkness "Azariah!"

The boy could feel his body violently shaking.

"Azariah!"

Light flooded his eyes as his mind was reeled back into the real world.

Azariah shot up from his cockpit. His forehead was beaded with sweat. He looked to his left and there was a boy worriedly looking at him.

"Azariah, are you alright?" he asked, noticing the tears running down Azariah's bright green eyes.

Azariah wiped away the tears and tried to compose himself. He smoothed his blonde hair and cleared his throat.

"I'm fine, Josef." Azariah managed a smile "What do you need?"

Josef ran his hand into his ruffled silver hair. "Major Simonov wants to see you in his office…"

"Am I in trouble?" Azariah asked, but he didn't sound worried.

"I'm not sure. He just told to me to come and get you since you weren't responding to the PA announcements."

Azariah nodded and stood up from his cockpit. He jumped out of his gray Che-1 heavy bomber and walked across the hanger with Josef beside him.

They walked through the halls without as much as a peep.

"S-so…" Josef tried to break the looming silence "It looks like you were having a pretty bad dream…was it about your village again?"

Azariah was silent.

"It's alright if you don't answer. I'm in no position to—"

"Yes." Azariah said flatly.

"I know you've heard me say this a million times, Azariah, but you're not personally responsible for what happened…"

"_If you only knew what happened that night…" _Azariah thought, trying to quell his building anger.

"I guess you're right, Josef." He managed a smile.

They stopped in front of two oak doors. Josef said goodbye to Azariah and left.

Azariah straightened his night black uniform and cleared his throat before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Azariah opened the door quietly and slipped in.

"Ah, Budanov, you're finally here." Major Simonov was standing beside his wooden desk.

Azariah saluted to the Major.

There were two more people in the room besides Simonov. Two girls; a red-headed Karlslandian and a silver-haired Orussian. The Karlslandian was seated in Major Simonov's chair. She was wearing an olive green JG3 uniform. Her eyes glistened like rubies as she eyed Azariah who was standing still in front of her. The Orussian girl was asleep on the couch. She was wearing the standard Orussian Army Aviation Regiment uniform; a black and white long-sleeved blouse and a black skirt.

"I imagined him a little younger…" the Karlslandian pointed out to the Major.

"Ah…He is part of the night watch." Major Simonov explained.

Major Simonov turned his attention to Azariah. "Budanov, this is Wing Commmander Minna-Dietinde Wilcke and the one asleep is Flying Officer Sanya V. Litvyak. They're from the 501st Joint Fighter Wing."

Azariah saluted to them. "It is an honor to meet such fine fighters like you two."

Minna saluted back. "I'm sure F/O. Litvyak would've been delighted to meet a fellow night flyer like yourself, but as you can see it takes quite a toll on her." she gestured to the sleeping Orussian girl curled up on the sofa like a cat.

Azariah sat himself down in front of the Major's desk. Minna laid out some files in front of him. Azariah noticed that most of the files were about him, particularly his background and military record.

"So F/O. Budanov, do you know why you were called in?" Minna asked, suddenly serious.

Azariah shook his head.

"Have you heard any news from the front?"

Azariah went through his thoughts, trying to recall anything important that he came across. It struck him.

"The Neuroi are getting harder to kill."

Minna nodded. "As the witches' numbers dwindle, the Neuroi's numbers remain infinite as long as their hives are alive."

Minna picked up one of the folders and started browsing through it.

"I see you've no violations, especially violations regarding female soldiers." Minna sounded impressed "And you've no problems regarding your superiors as well."

"Budanov is one of the finest pilots we have." Major Simonov chimed in.

Minna ignored the major's comment "Budanov, how would like to help in putting an end to this war?"

Azariah's eyes lit up. "How?"

Minna picked up another one of the folders and gave it to Azariah. The word "Project: Hecate" was stamped onto it in bold black letters.

The folder was filled with progress reports, medical feedbacks, and magic output readings. Azariah noticed the photos clipped on each report; witches from different divisions from all across the front. Among all of them, Azariah knew only two by face; Mio Sakamoto and Yoshika Miyafuji of the 501st.

He browsed through the entire contents of the folder.

"A magic amplification project…" Azariah concluded "You want me to participate in this?"

Minna gave a stern nod.

"I'm not a witch…"

"No, but your blood has magic in it. If your sister was still alive today…" Minna's voice trailed off, noticing the pain in Azariah's eyes "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's fine. Continue with what you have to say, Commander." Azariah cleared a lump that formed in his throat.

"…even though you're male, you still have potential to use magic."

"I thought only females can use magic. Hence, the witches."

"We thought so too, but after years of research did we find out that males also have a magic engine…" a voice said from behind Azariah.

Azariah turned around and saw another girl by the door.

Her hair was blonde, bob-cut and ocean blue eyes. She wore a gray JG52 uniform. She had a big leather bag with a coded lock clasp.

"Where did you run of to, Usrula?" Minna asked.

"I saw some of the mechanics taking a La-5 apart for maintenance. I lost track of time watching them work." Ursula had a small smile on her lips as she approached the table.

Ursula sat next to Azariah.

"This is F/O. Ursula Hartmann, head of Project: Hecate." Minna introduced the blonde girl.

Azariah stood up and saluted.

"You look older than expected…" Ursula said, staring at Azariah.

"So I've heard…" Azariah managed a laugh.

The three sat around the table and discussed about the project. Azariah wanted to know every little detail before deciding to join. Ursula filled him in to his heart's content.

"So, will this involve any type of surgery?" Azariah asked.

"No, but you'll need this." Ursula picked up her bag and scrolled in the combinations for the lock.

The clasp unlocked with a "click" and Ursula pulled out a glowing green orb, about the size of her palm.

"What is it?" Azariah's eyes narrowed from the bright glow of the orb.

"A magical core that will awaken you magic engine."

"How does it work?"

"Open up your shirt."

"What?" Azariah's eyes widened at Ursula's request.

"I'll show you how it works. Now please, open up your shirt." Ursula said without even blinking.

Azariah reluctantly complied, undoing the first three buttons of his uniform.

Ursula stood up and held the orb in one hand while placing the other on Azariah's shoulder.

"This won't hurt a bit. You'll just feel a little…tingly." Ursula placed the orb inches away from the Orussian's chest.

"What are you—"

As if there was nothing there, Ursula pushed the green orb cleanly into Azariah's chest.

Azariah shot straight up from his seat, his eyes wide with surprise. He touched his chest to be sure nothing was wrong.

"How do you feel?" Usrula asked, pulling out a notepad and a pen from her breast pocket.

"T-Tingly…"

Azariah felt something surging all over his body, slowly creeping from his chest towards his torso and limbs. Slowly, his body started to glow a faint green light.

"What's happening to him?" Major Simonov asked, dumbfounded.

"The Magic Core is jump starting his dormant magical engine. His powers are activating…" Ursula said, jotting down her observations.

Soon, Azariah's familiar appeared. A pair of ears on top of his head, and a tail on his lower back appeared out of thin air. The orange fur and black stripes could only mean that—

"A tiger familiar. Well, that is rare." Minna mused.

"For an Orussian, yes." Ursula kept focused on her notepad.

"_Such amazing power…" _Azariah felt the energy tingle in his fingertips.

"Huh?" Azariah blinked twice.

"What is it?" Ursula asked.

"My, my eyes…" Azariah blinked again "they feel…strange."

Azariah's green eyes are now pure red. It kept focusing in and out of random objects, disorienting him.

"It's seems that you have the same ability Major Sakamoto had…" Minna said, walking towards Azariah "Face me and focus your eyes on my finger."

Azariah faced Commander Minna and tried to focus his eyes on her finger. His vision slowly stopped zooming in and out, but…

"_Holy!_" Azariah's eyes widened.

Wing Commander Minna's clothes were vanishing before Azariah's eyes. His face turned as red as the bra the Wing Commander was wearing.

"Budanov, are you alright? You look flustered…" Minna asked.

"Umm…well…it's just that…" Azariah glanced at Minna's chest.

Catching his gaze, Minna looked down at her own chest as well. Then it hit her. And in turn, she hit Azariah hard with a slap.

Azariah flew backwards. He landed flat on his back on the carpeted floor.

"Oh my…" Major Simonov flinched "Even I felt that one…"

"Y-You pervert!" Minna screamed, covering her chest.

Azariah slowly got up. The room was spinning from the force of the hit. His head was throbbing, but at least his vision was back to normal.

"A-Anyway…Ursula, did you get everything you needed?" Minna coughed, trying to regain her composure.

"Yes. All the necessary elements are present. The core's stabilizing well." Ursula flipped through her notes one last time before hiding the notepad in her breast pocket.

"Umm…how do I make this stop?" Azariah asked, pointing to his familiar.

"Concentrate."

Azariah closed his eyes. He thought of his power fading, going to sleep once more. He could feel the tingling sensation go away, the warmth in his chest going away as well.

Azariah opened his eyes and his familiar was gone.

"You're going to have to learn how to awaken your familiar a lot faster." Minna pointed out.

"Training should begin as soon as possible." Ursula chimed in.

"So F/O. Budanov, will you help us put an end to this war?" Minna asked.

Azariah looked towards Major Simonov, who nodded in turn.

"Make us proud, boy."

Azariah nodded back and turned to the two Karlslandian officers.

"F/O. Azariah Budanov, reporting for duty sir!" he saluted.

"Good, pack your things and we'll leave for HQ immediately." Minna instructed, leaving the room.

Azariah grabbed his suitcase and started emptying his trunk. He grabbed all his uniforms, his Tokarev from his promotion ceremony and stuffed it in the suitcase. He grabbed his brown aviator's jacket from his bedpost and wore it.

"_Today, I put an end to this Irina…_" he thought to himself, running his finger on the silver pendant around his neck.

He made his way to the hangar, bumping into Josef along the way.

"So, you really are going. I thought they were just joking about that." Josef sighed.

"I'm only going for the sake of ending this war…" Azariah kept a straight face.

"But you're lucky! To be fighting side by side with such lovely girls!—"

"I'm going there to do my job, not drool over some witches. Love's trivial, useless in war."

"Sure, sure…" Josef rolled his eyes.

A Ju-34 was at the end of the tarmac, engines running and ready to take off. Minna and Ursula were standing beside the door with Major Simonov.

"Well, until we see each other again…" Azariah turned to Josef and extended his hand.

"Until then." Josef smiled and shook his hand.

Azariah made his way down the tarmac to the awaiting plane.

"Hey Budanov, I'll send you some vodka soon!" Josef shouted after him.

Azariah just smiled and shook his head, dismissing his friend's crazy idea.

"Sure, that'd be nice!" Azariah replied jokingly.

Minna, Ursula and Azariah boarded the plane.

Azariah glanced back to look at his base for one last time, the base that became his home for the past three years. The hatch closed and the plane prepared to leave.

The Ju-34's engines roared as the plane slowly made its way down the tarmac. Slowly picking up speed, the plane lifted off and flew into the night sky.

"We'll reach HQ in the morning. Get some sleep till then." Minna said, covering a sleeping Ursula with a blanket.

Azariah just nodded. He had no plan of returning to sleep where his past tortures him. He looked out the window to pass the time and let his mind wander for a while.

"Umm…" a gentle voice mumbled.

Azariah turned around and saw the silver-haired Orussian wide awake, her green eyes intently fixed to Azariah's.

"F/O. Litvyak…" Azariah was finding it hard to form the right sentence "H-How can I help you?" it was a dumb sentence, but it would do.

"Who are you?" Litvyak asked, pointing at Azariah.

Azariah stood up and saluted

"F/O. Azariah Budanov of the Orussian Army Aviation Regiment, Night Squadron branch."

Litvyak giggled.

"You didn't have to be so formal." she managed to stop giggling and saluted back "I am F/O. Sanya V. Litvyak of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. Are you…"

"Part of Project: Hecate? As of today, yes I am." Azariah smiled.

Azariah sat down with Sanya and exchanged stories about their time patrolling the night sky.

"It must be amazing…fighting the Neuroi and saving people." Azariah said.

"Personally, I've never been in combat much." Sanya admitted, slightly blushing "I do what you do, patrol the night sky and make sure that my friends are safe as they sleep…"

"Don't you want to do more?" Azariah asked.

Sanya shook her head.

"I know what I'm doing is as important as combating the Neuroi…"

Azariah looked surprised. From the day he got placed into night patrol, he always thought of it as a useless job. But hearing Sanya, a seasoned witch, being proud of doing the same thing he was doing, maybe he was being to narrow-minded about his role.

"I never thought of it that way…" Azariah laughed.

Sanya smiled.

"We are nearing HQ. Approximate time to touchdown is one hour and thirty minutes." The pilot announced over the radio.

Sanya and Azariah looked out the window; the sun was just peaking over the Ural Mountains, bringing light into the icy landscape.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Sanya asked.

Azariah nodded.

"_Soon, I'll fight for freedom. Soon, I'll help to free the Motherland…" _Azariah thought to himself as the plane descended to the clouds below.


End file.
